Mod 6 - Extraction Rate Increase

The property owners who have commissioned our report are rightly concerned about a number of
inconsistencies between their real life experiences with the impacts of the current operations of the Mangoola
Mine and the monitoring report undertaken on behalf of Mine Management.

Benbow Environmental has prepared an objective review of the documentation provided by the mine and their
experts and has found a number of environmental issues that would seem to support the concerns of the
adjoining property owners. Whilst these lie principally with noise, blasting, dust and the transport noise impact
assessment, our findings raise serious questions as to the overall rigour of the proponent's application.

I wish to lodge a submission of objection to the Mod 6 application for Mangoola Mine.

Our property is identified in Schedule 5 of the Consent conditions as being impacted by noise up to 44 dBa and being in Schedule 5 list as having mitigation, negotiated agreement and acquisition rights.

We have always made it very clear in every submission from the original development application and to subsequent modifications that we give NO ONE any consent to approve or cause an impact on our property.

We have also always made it very clear that it is our position to maintain ownership of our property and preferably remain in residency. It has always been the case and remains so that we expect adequate and appropriate mitigation to be in place so we can continue to have full use and enjoyment of our land. It appears to us after many years of expensive and unsuccessful negotiation that it is the Department of Planning's and the proponents preferred position that we sell our property.

We have been attempting since November 2007 to get XStrata Mangoola to agree to a suitable suite of mitigation measures which will allow us to remain in residence and have a couple of external areas to work and play in.

We reached an agreement in principle late 2011 on the provision of this mitigation only for it to fall over late 2012 after the builder turned up to measure the job and we informed XStrata that they were required by Law to gain council consents and provide contractual agreements between their builder and us the landholder.

Xstrata have since made statements that the mitigations agreed to be now too costly and not reasonable. It makes you wonder what they proposed to provide without appropriate consents or contracts in place.

We are already significantly impacted by noise, dust and blasting. The Mod 6 application will increase that significantly.

We have still unfinalised and protracted negotiations for adequate mitigation.
We have had to engage the services of a solicitor to assist us to get the matter resolved. We have written directly to the Director General twice.

We have engaged the services of an independent noise expert at total cost in excess of $12,000.00 in attempts to understand the real impacts of the noise on our property and to assess the adequacy of the Environmental Assessments undertaken by the proponent. In each case our independent noise expert has found the proponents noise assessment underestimates the noise impacts and is in some cases in error in its conclusions. We already exceed the worse case scenario noise levels of 44dBa predicted in the 2006 EA.

We cannot continue to afford independent advice for every modification. This Mod 6 will likely increase our noise and dust exposures significantly.
We request the Department of Planning get an independent peer review of the proponents noise assessment and the resulting findings be made public.

We are not identified as being impacted by dust and the requirement of the consent is to only measure PM10 pollution , which we are informed the mine is complying with. Since the mine commenced coal disturbance operations approximately November 2010, we have experienced increasing fine black dust pollution that permiates the house and coats every surface internal and external of the house. It is finer than PM10 and is therefore has not consent condition measurement criteria or mitigation proposal. It coats our potable water catchment surfaces (roofs) and contaminates our water storage. We have requested XStrata clean out our tanks but they have so far refused to do so.

It coats our Olive trees so that when we harvest the fruit it is covered in black dust as are we from being amongst the dusty leaves picking the fruit. We never had this prior to mine commencing. We had our last harvest of Oil done in May 0f 2011 and the oil flow was dirty (black contaminates) and required the settings on the centrifuge to be changed twice in attempts to spin the pollutant off. This has never happened before. We have not harvested since.

In terms of my health I developed a chronic sticky phlegm cough mid 2012 that would not get better. After 3 courses of antibiotics, tests for whooping cough etc, chest x- rays, chest ultra sounds and being hospitalised in October to undergo an endoscopic procedure to try and find the cause for the cough, we decided to get the ducted air-conditioning installed. The purpose of the installation while being part of the noise mitigation, with Hepa filters, it would also pressurise the house and reduce the dust inside. We run it 24x7 and the black dust has been effectively stopped from now entering the house and my cough has gone and has not returned.

Both the Dept of Planning and the Mining Proponent continue to propose acquisition as being the solution to our loss of amenity and the pollution experienced. We again stress that selling the property is not what we want. We point out the recent Project Approval 08_0182 for Ashton Coal Operations Ltd , Schedule 3 Clause 2 whereby the proponent is required to pay for costs of alternative like accommodation for the duration of the mine.

I have enclosed various letters for your immediate consideration. I want the contents of those letters to be part of my submission. So here goes attempt 4. Now attempt 5.

I am posting on Monday 1 July 2013 as further part of my submission of objection, a lever arch file of documents, letters, emails from 2008 to today, of our ongoing attempts to gain appropriate mitigation on our property. I hope you will accept these documents as further submission to today's lodgement. I have made 3 attempts to lodge by internet and have been disconnected on each occasion. ON each occasion of disconnection I lose the attached pdf files

Please note we have also proposed many alternative solutions to the mine, similar to the Ashton Coal consent, which XStrata refused outright as not being in their policy.

Regards
Christine Phelps

Further documents for submission

Upper Hunter Holding Pty Ltd
Upper Hunter Holdings Pty limited-Dolwendee
Upper Hunter Resources Pty Limited-Riverslea and Wybong Park
United Pastoral Pty Limited -Hollydene Estate
Wybong Estate Vineyard Pty Limited - Wybong Estate
Wybong Estate -Wybong Winery

Additional parts of the submission

See attached.